The Color of Light {book}....

We just got back from one last four-day beach hurrah before school starts.  I got sucked into this book and stayed up Tuesday night till 4:30 to finish it.  I haven't done that in a while and it felt good. 

Chapter 2 began with some commentary on loggerhead turtle mothers that reminded me of this quote, "Every mother is like Moses.  She does not enter the promised land.  She prepares a world she will not see." -Pope Paul VI

A few quotes from the book:

"Sometimes mothers can only do their best.  It's all God ever asks of us. And all he can expect with what we're given...sometimes we survive, anyway...and sometimes we rely on the kindness of others to put us back in our nests."

"Motherhood is a mixed bag.  You make of it what you can.  And nobody expects you to be perfect---most of the time all you have to do is just show up."

"You'll find with your son that you share a special bond.  Not that the one you share with your daughter is any less special---it's just different and completely unexpected."

Thank God.

My parents were in an accident Tuesday night at 8pm.  It was still light outside and they were just driving along (at about 60 mph).  A drunk driver rammed into them from behind.  Luckily, they both walked away without a scratch.  It makes me think of this:

Dear God, Thank you for my parents.  Amen.

The faith of a child.

Betsy has had an ear infection that is lingering.  We are on our second round of antibiotics.  The ear has been oozy and stinky (gross!).  This convo went down the other night...

JB:  "If it doesn't clear up, we may just have to cut this ear off."

Bet: "That's okay.  I have another one."

JB:  "What if we had to cut the other one off too?"

Bet:  "Jesus would grow my ears back.  He can do anything we ask him to."

Don't you just love it when children sneak in little reminders of faith?!  Bet sneaks in sweet little reminders all the time. "God shook his head the day he built her...oh, but I bet he smiled."-Lee Brice  What a blessing she is in our lives!

You Tube {aka free entertainment}...

Our current favorite You Tube videos:

The month before Jay turned 5 we really embraced this video.  It was our send-off to age four.  It is still a favorite though.  I'm pretty sure Jay wants to marry Feist.  He could watch this video (or any of her others) 100 times!  To be completely honest...I could to...her voice is AMAZING.

This one was on Today's Letters...one of my favorite daily blog reads.  My kids love most of the videos they post because they can see all of the instruments up close.  This one is especially special because it has a xylophone!  When we watch this Bet goes for her xylophone and Jay goes for his guitar...I sing and we jam!

Sometimes-getting to the beach-is no day at the beach...

Picture this...

Swimsuits are clean and ready for wear (me).

Towels have been washed and packed into bags (me).

Lunches are made (me).

Snacks are packed (me and JB).

Coolers are packed with drinks for all (JB).

Sunscreen is put on every inch of everyone (JB).

We load the golf cart (JB).

We ride to the beach.

We unload the golf cart (me and JB).

I'm saddled down with the beach bag and two chairs.

Justin has the cooler, three umbrellas and more chairs.

We have about 100 steps to reach our spot.

It is HOT.

The sand is HOT.

We know it will be a FUN day when we get to our spot...but getting there seems HARD.

We have told the kids that they will carry their beach toys.  Jay has his two boogie boards in tow and here is Bet.

She stops mid-way.  Refuses to go any further.  The days before we had made a game of how many steps it would take to get there, but nope...that wasn't working today...she knew how many steps and she didn't want to take them.

...To any beach patrons who may have thought I was "Mommy Dearest" for telling this cute little thing pretty much ALL of the ABOVE to encourage {guilt} her to carry her toys down the beach...get over it!

Having her carry her toys is reasonable.  They are not heavy and it shows her that she is part of this family. 

Lessons can be taught-even on vacation!  As a family, we must all work together BEFORE we can have FUN.

Good advice.

Don't Tell Me

-Shel Silverstein

Please don't tell me I should hug,

Don't tell me I should care.

Don't tell me just how grand I'd feel

If I just learned to share.

Don't say, "It's all right to cry,"

"Be kind," "Be fair," "Be true."

Just let me see YOU do it,

Then I just might do it too.

The Best Part of Your Day...

Prior to my new schedule when I would pick my kids up and ask them what the best part of their day was so far and they would almost always say, "You coming to pick us up!".  Brushing it off I would smile and answer..."Well, you know what, that's the best part of my day so far too!"

Reflecting back on those words I realize now how much that one little phrase stung.  It wasn't that the kids didn't like their school and it wasn't that they weren't doing a million fun things that day, but by 5:30 {like me} they were just plain tired and {like me} they were just focusing on one thing...getting home!---I also hate to admit that there were some days when sweet Jay would be asleep by the time we got 1 mile down the road! 

Whew, what a difference three hours makes!  Now when I pick them up they babble on and on the whole way home about their day. 

Remembering clearly our prior pick-ups...I'm not numb to their babbling...I treasure each ride home and hang on to every word.